Law lets prosecutors release criminal histories
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill into law that allows district attorneys to continue to release information regarding a person’s local criminal history.
The law, signed Friday, allows prosecutors to release a person’s name, physical description, arrest history, booking numbers and charges.
Prosecutors had been releasing this information for years, until a legal opinion by the state attorney general’s office held that they would have to discontinue doing so.
The bill goes into effect Jan. 1.
It had the support of the California Newspaper Publishers Assn. and Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley.
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